Kin Blog

Viewing posts in: Kin Canada History

Early in May 2016, a wildfire of unknown origin broke out in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in northwest Alberta, close to the city of Fort McMurray. In less than two days, the fire encroached upon Fort McMurray itself, resulting in the evacuation of the entire population of the city and the work camps and oil sands plants north of the city – a total of more than 94,000 people – to communities elsewhere in northern, central and southern Alberta. At its peak, the wildfire had consumed almost 590,000 hectares of tinder-dry boreal forest in Alberta and Saskatchewan, making it the largest and most expensive natural disaster in recorded Canadian history.

The following article was published in the September 1st, 1926 edition of Kin Magazine, Vol. 4 No. 1.

Harold Allen Rogers was a Canadian, born in London, Ontario, on January the third, eighteen ninety-nine. His parents, Charles F. and Mrs. Rogers, were also Canadian born, the children of Devonshire families. Harold attended school in London. After passing through public and technical schools he took a course at the Westervelt Business College at London. Following this he entered the service of the Home Bank of Thorndale.

Kinsmen, Kinette and Kin Clubs serve the community’s greatest need. Donating blood is a nation-wide need that touches most every Canadian so Kin is formally reviving our relationship with Canadian Blood Services.

Currently, our most active discussion topic is Grandfathering the K-40. The status of these affiliate clubs is a little confusing; so from the office newbie, here are the highlights of K-40 and K-ette.

Over the last several months, we’ve seen many Kin Canada clubs celebrate major anniversaries. There have been 40, 60 and even 90 year milestones reached, which as a result, make us reflect on the accomplishments of the past (almost) 94 years Kin Canada has been around – and look forward to the future with determination to make the next 94 years just as noteworthy.

As per usual at this time of year, red poppies are worn by Canadians and people in several other countries to honour, recognize and remember the sacrifices made - and that continue to be made - by members of our armed forces. This has been a tradition since the end of World War I, and I don’t doubt it will continue for years to come.

In Part 2 of this blog series, we travel to the seminar room at 1920 Rogers Drive. This room is mainly used for staff meetings, as well as when National committees and the National Board of Directors have face-to-face meetings. But it’s what hangs on the walls that give you a glimpse into Kin history.

During our Open House, visitors were given a tour of our building. At Kin Canada, we have tons of archives and artifacts that represent who we are and what our clubs have accomplished over the last 93 years. We are an all-Canadian service organization and I’d like to share some of our history.

With the Diane Rogers Kin Pride Award questions posted as of March 1, 2013 (and due April 15, 2013!), we thought we'd share an interview with last year's winner, Barb McArthur. We asked her a series of questions and this is what she had to say: